Windows Me
Windows Me (originally codenamed Millennium), also known as Windows Millennium Edition, is a 16-bit/32-bit graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft. A successor to Windows 95 and Windows 98, was marketed as a "Home edition" compared to Windows 2000 which had been released nine months earlier. It provided Internet Explorer 5.5, Windows Media Player 7, and the new Movie Maker software, which provided basic video editing and was designed to be easy for home users. Both Internet Explorer 5.5 and Windows Media Player 7 could also be downloaded for free from the Internet for earlier versions of Windows. Microsoft also updated the graphical user interface in Windows Me with features that were first introduced in Windows 2000. One of the most publicized changes in Windows Me was that it no longer included real mode MS-DOS. With access to real mode DOS simply restricted some applications (such as older disk utilities) that required real mode would not run in Windows Me. New features System Restore Windows Me introduced the "System Restore" logging and reversion system, which was meant to simplify troubleshooting and solving problems. It was intended to work as a "safety net" so that if the installation of an application or a driver adversely affected the system, the user could undo the install and return the system to a previously-working state. It did this by monitoring changes to Windows system files and the registry (System Restore is not a backup program). System Restore could slow the computer's performance if it chose to checkpoint the system while a user was using it, and since its method of keeping track of changes was fairly simplistic, it could sometimes end up restoring a virus which the user had previously removed. Windows File Protection Windows File Protection, a feature introduced with Windows 2000, made its way into the then consumer versions of Windows with Windows Me. It aimed to protect system files from modification and corruption silently and automatically. When the file protection was in effect, replacing a system file that had no file lock preventing it to be overwritten, caused Windows to immediately and silently restore the original copy. The original would then be taken from a hard drive backup folder or from the Windows Me installation CD if none were found on the default locations searched by Windows. If no such CD would be in the drive, a dialog box would alert the user about the problem and request that CD to be inserted. The same procedures took place if a system file was deleted instead of replaced. Windows File Protection is an entirely different technology from System Restore. System Restore maintains a broad set of changed files including added applications and user configuration data stored repeatedly at specific points in time restored by the user. Windows File Protection only protects operating system files with no user input. Windows File Protection uses version 2.5 of the Microsoft Data Access Components technology. Universal Plug and Play Windows Me was Microsoft's first operating system to introduce support for Universal Plug and Play, often shortened to UPnP. Windows Image Acquisition Windows Me also introduced the Windows Image Acquisition API for a standardized and officially supported method of allowing Windows applications to transparently and more easily communicate with image acquisition devices, such as digital cameras and scanners. Before Windows Me and the introduction of WIA, non-standard third party solutions were often common here, leading to incompatibility problems. Automatic Updates The Automatic Update utility automatically delivers critical updates that are available on the Windows Update Web site with little user interaction. It was set up by default to check Windows Update once every 24 hours. Criticism Many users were generally unimpressed with Windows Me due to perceived stability issues. Most of the functionality provided in Windows Me was achievable with separate programs under Windows 98. Due to its perceived failure, Windows Me has been sarcastically referred to as "Moron Edition", "Mistake Edition", "Miserable Edition", "Many Errors", or "Memory Eater" (due to widespread problems with memory leaks). This also prompted the creation of a memetic character among the Japanese known as ME-tan (see OS-tan). However, some enthusiasts feel, from personal experience, that Windows ME has been judged harshly and that it runs well on relatively "powerful" PCs e.g Pentium 4 systems with plenty of RAM e.g. 512MB. (see www.msfn.org - forums). Relation to other Windows releases Windows Me was complemented by Windows NT-based Windows 2000, which was aimed at professional users. Both operating systems were succeeded by Windows XP. Along with Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE, Windows Me will be supported by Microsoft until July 11, 2006, after which time the company will no longer provide any incident support options or security updates. http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsMe/ At the time of its release, many third-party applications written for earlier editions of Microsoft Windows, especially older games, ran under Windows Me but not under Windows 2000. This fact has become less relevant with the sharp decline in popularity of Windows Me and Windows 98 after the release of Windows XP, which features a Compatibility Mode which allows many of these older applications to run. System requirements System requirements of Windows Millennium Edition are a 150 MHz Pentium or compatible processor and at least 32 megabytes of RAM. Recommended system requirements are a Pentium II with at least 96 megabytes of RAM. External links *Official page *GUIdebook: Windows Me Gallery - A website dedicated to preserving and showcasing Graphical User Interfaces *HPC:Factor Windows Millennium Edition Patches & Updates Guide *Real mode DOS hacks ca:Windows Me cs:Windows Me da:Windows Me de:Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition es:Windows Me fr:Microsoft Windows Me gl:Windows ME it:Windows ME hu:Windows Me nl:Windows ME ja:Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition no:Windows ME pl:Microsoft Windows Me pt:Windows ME ru:Windows Me simple:Windows ME fi:Windows ME sv:Windows Me tr:Windows Me zh:Windows Me Category:Microsoft Windows Category:Discontinued Products Category:Windows 9x